Quite why anyone would rely on Siri’s flaky responses when it comes to a deadly storm is baffling. The service remains in beta and often struggles to offer up useful information on far more benign requests. If Siri can’t reliably tell you the best Italian restaurant to frequent, is it really sensible to hope that it can get you out of town before the hurricane arrives?

The problem is, of course, that the information offered up by our phones, tablets and computers is only useful while the broadband and mobile networks hold, while the electricity is still flowing. A battery-powered radio is far more useful than a smartphone when a storm hits especially when, as with Sandy, the very data centres that many web services rely on sit in its path.

A slighter longer-term concern is that the satellites which provided much of weather data to predict the path of storms like Sandy are ageing and not being replaced quickly enough. The New York Times reported that mismanagement, financial problems and delays could mean coverage is disrupted for more than a year at some point between 2016 and 2018. While the US is struggling to get its weather satellite programme back on track, Europe launched its latest in September this year.

It’s accurate and plentiful data that makes Google’s Crisis Map useful and poor data that left Siri bemused. While the mainstream press spent thousands of words on Apple’s Maps failure, in comparison, very few have been dedicated to the future collection of the data such consumer services rely on. Siri failing to see the storm is funny but having fewer satellites keeping watch is no laughing matter.